At first glance, entering East Asian characters from a full size keyboard seems like an impossible task. There are literally thousands of Chinese characters which a user might choose to enter. Entering the characters, however, is made easier through the use of Input Method Editors (IMEs). An IME is a program that allows computer users to enter complex characters and symbols, such as Japanese characters, Chinese characters, and Korean characters using a full size keyboard. Using the IMEs, users can input Chinese, Japanese, and Korean text directly into desktop applications, Web forms, and e-mail messages using their full size keyboard.
IMEs are designed to help individuals and businesses who want to communicate in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean without making them run a separate Chinese, Japanese, or Korean version of their operating system. For example, a business based in New York could use its U.S. version of the browser to send messages in Korean to an overseas affiliate. Similarly, a student attending classes in Paris could write documents in Japanese on their French based operating system using an IME and their full size keyboard.